Political science expert Dr. Carol Swain says Barack Obama's "pettiness" in Monday night's debate over foreign policy contrasted sharply with Mitt Romney's more serious and presidential demeanor.
In the third and final presidential debate Monday night, President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney spared over national security and the economy. While many commentators rated the debate a draw, political science expert Dr. Carol Swain believes Romney did better than expected.
The debate was held at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. Moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS News began with a question on challenges in the Middle East - a question in which the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was not addressed.
According to Swain, an incumbent president typically has the advantage when discussing foreign policy issues. She says she had hoped Romney would have distinguished himself more from Obama.
"If I were Mitt Romney, I would have gone back repeatedly to the fact that the only thing the Obama administration has done is de-stabilize the Middle East, remove the devils that we knew [and] that we had some control over, and replace them with a lot of unknown people," she tells OneNewsNow.
The Vanderbilt University educator said she was impressed with the GOP nominee's closing remarks, noting he looked presidential and as one who could lead the nation.
"His closing statement was so powerful," Swain offers in reference to Romney. "And after listening to President Obama's pettiness and him just coming across so un-presidential, it was a sharp contrast -- and ... almost the same contrast that you saw between [Paul] Ryan and [Vice President Joe] Biden: one person, you know, being very differential and serious, and then the other behaving like a school child."
Swain doubts the debate was a game-changer, leaving Romney with the momentum he built over the past several weeks.
Dunn: Mitt has the 'Big Mo'
Conservative political scientist and historian Dr. Charles Dunn agrees with Swain, saying the president failed to do in the debate what he had to do to reverse Romney's momentum. Dunn, a professor of government at Regent University 's Robertson School of Government, offers his assessment.
"Obama needed an overwhelming rebuttal and victory, which [he] did not get because [he] came off looking just very small and petty in his responses," Dunn tells OneNewsNow. "So I think we have to say that Romney went into the debate with momentum, and he comes out of the debate with 'The Big Mo' of momentum."
In contrast, says the political historian, Romney did the five things he had to do to win Monday night's final presidential debate.
"He needed to look presidential - he did. He needed to sound presidential - he did. He needed to demonstrate knowledge - he did. He needed to raise credibility issues with Obama - he did," he offers. "And he needed to shift the debate from foreign policy to domestic economic issues, especially jobs - he did."